InTucker Magazine

On the Beat with Lt. Schoeppner -February 2021

Lt. D.G. Schoeppner is Tucker’s liaison to the DeKalb County Police Department and can be followed at facebook.com/dgschoeppner or emailed at dgschoeppner@dekalbcountyga.gov.

This past November marked my 19th year working for the DeKalb County Police. In that time, I have seen quite a lot. Of all those things, what troubles me the most are the seven co-workers who have perished while doing this job. This isn’t seven police officers that work in some far-flung place. This is seven DeKalb County Police officers. These officers didn’t die in their sleep. These officers died while on the job for this community. Four of these seven were killed in shooting incidents. The remaining three were killed in some sort of vehicle wreck. 

The most recent death was on January 2 when Sergeant Daniel Mobley was struck by a vehicle during a traffic accident investigation. The incident occurred on the 75/85 Connector, near Williams Street in Atlanta. One of our officers was involved in a traffic accident there while driving home from work. Sergeant Mobley had gone there to collect information for a supervisory report. While this was happening, another vehicle lost control, spun out and struck Sergeant Mobley. Georgia State Patrol was already there from the previous wreck and aid was summoned right away. However, Sergeant Mobley’s injuries were so severe that he died before reaching the hospital. 

Part of what makes this so disturbing is how mundane this event was. Police shootings are relatively rare encounters. However, we are out on the interstate working traffic accidents or assisting motorists many times per day. Not only that, but I doubt the person that killed Sergeant Mobley was some hardened criminal. In fact, I would say that up until this event that person was only guilty of driving too fast and not paying enough attention. That is something just about every driver in Atlanta has done at one point or another. The next time you’re driving ask yourself: “Do I need to go this fast? Do I need to read/send this text right now? If something unexpected happens, will I be able to stop or maneuver around it?” Just because you may have gotten away with it a thousand times before, doesn’t mean that the next time won’t be different.

Why, after 22 years of handling traffic accidents, was this the one where Sergeant Mobley had to die? Of course, I’ll never get an answer to that question. But that is the specter that looms over every police officer when we put on that uniform and go to work every day. Will that day be the one we roll snake eyes? If it is, will it be something rare, like a shooting? Or will it be something we’ve done a thousand times before?